Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Giacomo Conterno
History
Giacomo Conterno is a Barolo house in Monforte d'Alba, in the Langhe. Accounts differ on the exact start. Some point to 1908, when Giovanni Conterno opened a tavern in the hamlet of San Giuseppe. Others place the beginning after Giacomo came home from the First World War and bottled his own Barolo riserva. What is clear is that the family was among the first small Barolo growers to bottle under its own name, and that Giacomo created Monfortino, named after the village.
For decades the wines were made from purchased grapes. Giovanni and his brother Aldo took over in 1961, and Aldo left in 1969 to start his own estate. In 1974 Giovanni bought the Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba, and from the 1978 vintage the house vinified only its own fruit. Giovanni's son Roberto joined in 1988 and has run the estate since his father died in 2004.
The land and the vineyards
Cascina Francia, about sixteen hectares in one block in Serralunga d'Alba, is the heart of the property and is planted to Nebbiolo and Barbera. In 2008 Roberto added a small plot in the Cerretta cru, and in 2015 he bought the Arione vineyard, which sits next to Cascina Francia. Serralunga is known for firm, long lived Barolo, and the estate's wines follow that pattern.
The wines
The method is traditional. Nebbiolo macerates for weeks on its skins and then spends years in large old casks, never small new barriques. Barolo Cascina Francia ages for four years and is not made in weaker vintages. Barolo Riserva Monfortino is made only in exceptional years, macerates for up to five weeks and rests about seven years in cask before release. There is also a Barbera d'Alba from Cascina Francia, aged in large casks, and a small Nebbiolo d'Alba. The house holds that a young Barolo should be hard to drink on release and open up after decades in the bottle.
Today
Roberto Conterno continues the traditionalist approach set by his father and grandfather. Production is small, the wines are released late, and bottles from the better vintages are sought by collectors worldwide.
- Founded
- 1908 (sources differ)
- Vineyards (hectares)
- About 16 in Cascina Francia, plus Cerretta and Arione
- Main grapes
- Nebbiolo, Barbera
- Owners
- Roberto Conterno